Brewers can mitigate supply risks early by engaging subject-matter experts who can help organizations quantify their needs, compare them to
available resources and identify gaps to assess cost
impacts and define remediation strategies, says
Joe DeMent, director of programs and operations,
Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, California, USA.

Project managers often must pad their schedules
with extra time to account for delays, he says. A
realized risk can quickly create a cascade of issues.
For instance, a lack of brewing equipment or skilled
labor shortages, such as equipment installers, can
result in longer lead times, Mr. DeMent says.

“As the entire craft beer industry grows in both
number of players and production capacity, other
dependent resources are stressed,” he says. “We
identify constraints in suppliers, equipment or
skilled labor, and respond tactically by finding alternatives or supplements wherever possible.”

A PINT OF PLANNING

Every beer needs the right blend of ingredients, and
every beer project needs the right stakeholders to work
in tandem. Whether it’s senior executives focused on
business objectives, brewmasters zeroed in on recipe
and equipment requirements, legal experts who identify regulatory issues or engineers who know building
requirements, project managers must get all of them
on the same page to complete tasks on time.

“Misidentification of stakeholders results in inaccurate scoping, which will result in the delivery of a
project that does not correspond to the needs of the
business that requested it,” Mr. Sanabria says.

Fast-growing craft breweries are learning how
proactive stakeholder management can boost project planning. Zachry Construction had to coordinate with Spoetzl’s brewing experts from the very
beginning in order to incorporate their requirements into the construction plan.

For instance, nine tanks—all larger than someautomobiles—had to beinstalled mid-constructionbecause of their immensesize. That meant the proj-ect team had to synchronizeplanning and installationwith all stakeholders, Mr.Jaworski says. The construc-tion team produced a 3-Dmodel to identify any designor coordination flaws—thenengaged the design teamearly on to modify the tankinstallation plan.

“We did the slab-on-grade, but we couldn’t finish the structure on levels
two and three until the tanks
came in because we had to
literally drop them in and
then build the rest of the
structure around them,” Mr.
Jaworski says. “For that reason, it was a closely coordinated project between the
construction team and the owner’s team.”